Brunswick Beacon, 05.23.24
Overdevelopment in Brunswick County is a problem regularly called out in this forum. Many residents have shared their concerns and possible solutions.
Our incumbent County Commissioners have been unwilling or unable to tackle the problem so far. Understanding how we got here, though, may shine some light on how to deal with the problem.
Let’s connect the dots.
Dot #1: Legislation to control or tighten regulations on developers is nearly impossible to get through N.C.’s State Legislature. Why? Because the N.C. Board of Realtors PAC has been the largest contributor to our state legislators’ campaigns for years. Those legislators create most of our land use laws. No wonder we have development laws that favor developers!
Dot #2: Writing to your elected representatives is normally something that gets results. When it comes to overdevelopment, it’s useless because 62% of Frank Iler’s campaign contributions came from realtors and developers!
Dot #3 — One of our county commissioners, Marty Cooke, is a realtor (recently, his wife, also a realtor, was appointed to fill the BCS Board of Education vacancy created by the passing of David Robinson). The county commissioners have followed the legislature, creating a climate favorable to developers and realtors.
So, if you wonder why we have an overdevelopment crisis in Brunswick County, I hope connecting these dots will help you understand. The question now is, how do we solve the overdevelopment problem?
It has been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The only way to change the course we are on in Brunswick County is to change those charting it.
There are three candidates running against the incumbent Commissioners, all promising to address the overdevelopment crisis. Vote for the incumbents if you want overdevelopment to get worse. Vote for the challengers, Jonathan Damico, Tom Simmons, and Robert Fulton if you want change.
I’m ready for a change. How about you?
Eileen Farrell
Sunset Beach
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